Currently spent a week enjoying the city where I'll be attending law school. Orientation starts tomorrow and tuition is due next week. Issue is - I hate the city & only attending this law school because it's the highest ranked school I got into. I already feel like my heart isn't here (this school, this city, not law school in general). I decided to submit both deposits because I thought I would try my very best and transfer out to a better ranked school/closer to my family. Is it crazy to think that I'm thinking of withdrawing? If I did, are there any repercussions, say, if I did it before tuition is due? Will this affect my aid (loans) in the future? I'm worried that I'm just freaking myself out right now and everything will be fine in a couple of weeks. Thoughts?

I would probably jump ship, but only you can really know for sure if it's something you just want to deal with or if you want to retake/reapply. Objectively, though, the right answer is retake and reapply.

I'd withdrawal from the school. You don't like the city and wanted to do well enough 1L to transfer to a school near your home, which there are no guarantees. Move back and start studyIng for the October LSAT. And reapply next cycle.

Currently spent a week enjoying the city where I'll be attending law school. Orientation starts tomorrow and tuition is due next week. Issue is - I hate the city & only attending this law school because it's the highest ranked school I got into. I already feel like my heart isn't here (this school, this city, not law school in general). I decided to submit both deposits because I thought I would try my very best and transfer out to a better ranked school/closer to my family. Is it crazy to think that I'm thinking of withdrawing? If I did, are there any repercussions, say, if I did it before tuition is due? Will this affect my aid (loans) in the future? I'm worried that I'm just freaking myself out right now and everything will be fine in a couple of weeks. Thoughts?

Thank you so much. Would really appreciate any support.

Are you going to UVA? If that's the case, I can totally relate...(as a non-white foreigner, I would be scared out of my mind if I move into a city that has Nazi flags and white supremacists all over the place.) But I think it will get better in the next week or so.

Last edited by melmelcoolj on Sun Aug 13, 2017 3:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

melmelcoolj wrote:Are you going to UVA? If that's the case, I can totally relate...(as a non-white foreigner, I would be scared out of my mind if I move into a city that has Nazi flags and white supremacists all over the place.) But I think it will get better in the next week or so.

Just to try and quell this specific anxiety: UVA has very little to do with that. The rallies that came in were mostly (if not exclusively) out-of-towners who deliberately chose to come to the school when they knew that they wouldn't have a large number of students there to bolster the counter-protests.

I certainly wouldn't say that UVA and Charlottesville are perfect or that you won't find racism and bigotry there. But the riot-inciting pieces of shit that invaded the town don't reflect the normal population.

OP: what are your career goals, and what do you mean that "ranking has also been a factor"? USNWR ranking is pretty meaningless for a school like Hastings, but there are other reasons to be concerned about attending.

melmelcoolj wrote:Are you going to UVA? If that's the case, I can totally relate...(as a non-white foreigner, I would be scared out of my mind if I move into a city that has Nazi flags and white supremacists all over the place.) But I think it will get better in the next week or so.

Just to try and quell this specific anxiety: UVA has very little to do with that. The rallies that came in were mostly (if not exclusively) out-of-towners who deliberately chose to come to the school when they knew that they wouldn't have a large number of students there to bolster the counter-protests.

I certainly wouldn't say that UVA and Charlottesville are perfect or that you won't find racism and bigotry there. But the riot-inciting pieces of shit that invaded the town don't reflect the normal population.

OP: what are your career goals, and what do you mean that "ranking has also been a factor"? USNWR ranking is pretty meaningless for a school like Hastings, but there are other reasons to be concerned about attending.

I totally understand that -- I think the protestors came to UVA because of the dispute regarding the statue and also the Jeffersonian history, not because they think they will find support at UVA (given the students are not there). But it's still pretty scary if that's the first thing one sees arriving at a new town, since it's perhaps no longer safe to walk in the streets as a minority right now. I've been to Charlottesville myself, and it's very pretty with stunning Jeffersonian architecture. Very sorry this episode is taking place.

melmelcoolj wrote:Are you going to UVA? If that's the case, I can totally relate...(as a non-white foreigner, I would be scared out of my mind if I move into a city that has Nazi flags and white supremacists all over the place.) But I think it will get better in the next week or so.

Just to try and quell this specific anxiety: UVA has very little to do with that. The rallies that came in were mostly (if not exclusively) out-of-towners who deliberately chose to come to the school when they knew that they wouldn't have a large number of students there to bolster the counter-protests.

I certainly wouldn't say that UVA and Charlottesville are perfect or that you won't find racism and bigotry there. But the riot-inciting pieces of shit that invaded the town don't reflect the normal population.

OP: what are your career goals, and what do you mean that "ranking has also been a factor"? USNWR ranking is pretty meaningless for a school like Hastings, but there are other reasons to be concerned about attending.

My heart wants to do public interest law for a non-profit, but my most recent work experience was with a private corporate company wherein I assisted attorneys in drafting contracts, so for the money (to lift myself out of debt & help out my family), I'd strongly consider contract law for a company as being in a business environment vs. a firm is appealing. Regarding the ranking - I'm assuming employers look at law school rankings? By meaningless, is that because Hastings is Tier 3? The neighborhood, ranking, bar passage rate, and employment rate are concerning. Also, SF is expensive and I was only given $10k in annual scholarship money.

BabyJD wrote:My heart wants to do public interest law for a non-profit, but my most recent work experience was with a private corporate company wherein I assisted attorneys in drafting contracts, so for the money (to lift myself out of debt & help out my family), I'd strongly consider contract law for a company as being in a business environment vs. a firm is appealing. Regarding the ranking - I'm assuming employers look at law school rankings? By meaningless, is that because Hastings is Tier 3? The neighborhood, ranking,bar passage rate, and employment rate are concerning. Also, SF is expensive and I was only given $10k in annual scholarship money.

Those are the important points.

Employers do look at ranking, but at a certain point, the specific ranking of the school doesn't matter. What does matter is that Hastings gives you a 50/50 chance at being a practicing lawyer after graduation, and they're charging you too much for it. Withdrawing now is literally a life-saving move.

I would withdraw if I were you. According to LST Score Reports, Hastings has a 50.3% employment score and about $50k in tuition per year. See https://www.lstreports.com/schools/hastings. With a $10,000 annual scholarship, that means you're still paying something like $120k in tuition (plus the high COA of San Francisco). I don't know what your other opportunities are, but to me, a $120k investment that yields a 50% chance of employment is not a good investment. Particularly when you can study for the October LSAT, retake, and probably do better, securing you admission at a law school that has better employment stats.

And that does not event account for the other issues with the city you mentioned. In that regard, I'd note almost all of its graduated who are employed end up in California (though there is almost certainly some self-selection in there), so if you're not committed to working in CA, Hastings is probably not a very good fit for you.

+1 withdraw. I know it's not an easy decision OP but it sounds like it's the right one. FWIW I went through a similar experience (with similar concerns as you have) with a non-law graduate program. I bailed a week before I was supposed to start classes. Never regretted it.

I've officially withdrawn from Hastings. Thank you so much for all of your responses. It really helped make my decision easier knowing I wasn't illogically freaking out. I didn't attend the first day of orientation and didn't feel guilty nor feel like I was missing out, so I withdrew and feel good about it!